


Fall From Grace

by arcanicEmbers



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: If either of these bother you please be careful friends, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-17 21:37:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5886190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanicEmbers/pseuds/arcanicEmbers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chara. The First Child. The Fallen. The Demon that comes when you call its name.</p>
<p>They weren't always like that. Once upon a time, they had just been a child who enjoyed chocolate and coloring. They didn't want to hurt anyone, and all they wanted was the best for their family. </p>
<p>Unfortunately for them, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. </p>
<p>(I need to figure out where exactly I want to go with this before I continue it. HIATUS)</p>
<p>(Update: I think I've decided what I want to do with this story, but as it has been a while, I'm going to start from scratch. Granted, that isn't going back much, but I think I could do a much better version of this now with the same concept/idea. So, keep an eye out!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fall From Grace

Chara’s first thought upon waking up was to mentally curse the fact that they were waking up.

That hadn't been the plan, and the pain flaring through their body wasn't making them any more grateful for their life having been spared. If anything, it was making them ponder if there was a sharp rock near by. Not exactly the quick method they'd wanted, but at this point, they didn’t think they could go back. After all, if they went back with these injuries and explained them, there was no way they’d ever be allowed outside the house again, and that was unacceptable.

The child tested their arms against the ground, and after finding that neither of them too badly injured to use, they used them to push themself up to their feet. Checking their surroundings could wait; instinct was to check over the body first. Always know what was going on with the body before looking around.

The initial pain and staticy feel from the fall had faded, but it wasn’t gone. A dull throb was centered on their face, and a hesitant prod and another bright flair of _no stop pain bad_ in their head. They tallied up a broken nose at the very worst, but it wasn’t bleeding. Maybe it was just bruised? Their arms were okay, although they _knew_ that they'd be covered in bruises later. The thick shirt and pants they had on had saved them from scratches, thankfully. The biggest problem seemed to be that one of their legs hurt a bit more than they liked just from standing. The fact that they _were_ standing was encouraging, but they had to try walking. And so the child carefully took a step-

Chara was beginning to hate lying on the ground. It would have been nice enough if they were laying on their back in the grass, but instead they had a mouthful of dirt. Insult to injury.

The child sat up again and looked at the offending foot. They had no idea how long they'd been asleep, but the ankle was swollen and the same shade of red that someone's face got when they were shouting. They weren't going anywhere for a while; might as well look around. 

The air was cold, but not bitterly biting cold; it was a thin breeze that brushed against their cheeks and, and it was oddly soothing. The place they landed was some kind of hill, and for a moment, they giggled at the absurdity of it. A hill in a mountain? What was the point of that? 

Said hill was covered in grass, thick and wild, and perhaps that’s what had kept their injuries to a minimum. The clumps under them made a good cushion, and they ran their hands again the grass. Their fingers combed through the plants, and it calmed them down enough to think. Plan one had failed, now it was time for plan two. 

They could barely walk; let alone climb back up to the hole. Whatever happened, they were stuck down there. It had taken all of their will power to climb up the mountain, and they didn’t think they could muster enough to try anything else, so for now they had to focus on either figuring out how to get out of there, or figuring out what to do about their ankle. 

Maybe they could crawl over to a wall and lean on that to-

"It sounds like it came from over here!” Somebody was approaching. The voice sounded young, and it was calling to someone else, but they didn't really catch the response. So, they weren't alone down there. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

The figure that appeared wasn't what they expect, and they dug their fingers into the dirt to pull themself back, _away._ Maybe they hadn't planned on surviving that fall, but that hardly meant that they wanted to get _eaten._ That was neither quick nor painless.

“Oh! You’ve fallen down, haven’t you? Are you okay?” The words of concern halted Chara's (admittedly weak) escape attempt, and they paused to look closer. The monster, because that was definitely not a human, looked. . . kind of like a weird cross between a goat and a rabbit, if they were being honest. He had floppy ears that seemed to get in his face as he leaned forward, covering his large brown eyes. When he reached up to brush them away, the child noted that his hands were, well, not _hands._ They looked more like paws, but there was still a vaguely thumb shaped bit, and they just couldn't be afraid of someone who was both that fluffy and wearing a sweater.

“Here, get up.” He crouched down and gently pulled one of their arms up and around his shoulders and helped them up to their feet. The child flinched away from the touch, then realized they weren’t going to move any other way and allowed it. They had to lean on him a bit, but as long as they didn't put all their weight on their ankle, it held.

That was about when they realized that they hadn't said one word to their fluffy savior. Oops. Well, it looked like they'd be sticking around a bit longer, so they supposed they might as well introduce themself. He didn’t seem like someone they should be worried

“I’m Chara.” He blinked and turned to offer them a smile. They tried to smile back, but they weren’t sure it reached much further than their mouth.

“Chara, huh? That’s a nice name. My name is Asriel Dreemurr.” It sounded like a name out of a story, like some fairy tale prince. They wondered if they were actually still unconscious and in some magic dream land in their own head.

They then decided that if _that_ was the case, they might as well enjoy it while they could, right? It was better than some other dreams they’d had. Maybe that’s all the pain was; that weird dream pain that made you _think_ you were hurt, but when away once you woke up.

“Your name is nice too,” they replied, testing to see just how much weight they could put on their ankle. “By the way, who were you talking-”

“Asriel,” a voice rang out. It sounded gentle, soft like dry fur on a two day old kitten, and positively drenched with motherly affection. The voice halted with a soft gasp and what looked like an older and more feminine version of the other child appeared. She stared for just a moment before rushing over and crouching down. The woman reached out for them and they held themself as still as they could as a hand softly brushed against their cheek.

“Oh, what happened? Are you alright, child?” They wanted to talk, but the words were stuck in their throat. Too much was going on, their mind needed a minute to cool down. The smaller goat bunny monster, Asriel, sent a strange look their way and patted their back, making them jump, then turned to his. . . mom? Probably his mom. It would explain the tone and the fact that he looked like a smaller version.

“I think they were the crash. I found them laying down on the hill, and I think they’re hurt. Can we keep them?” Wait what-

“Asriel, they’re a human, not a pet,” she chided. “Still, If they did fall down here,” the woman murmured as she turned back to them, “they likely are. Here, could you help them sit down?” Asriel helped them back to the ground, and they immediately curled up, pulling their knees to their chest and biting their lip to keep from wincing as their foot smacked the ground wrong.

The older monster turned to face them and smiled, gently. The expression was full of care and radiated ‘It’s okay, everything will be just fine.’

"Greetings. My name is Toriel Dreemurr. May I ask yours, my child?”

Maybe it was the fact that she seemed just as fluffy as Asriel, or maybe it was because they just couldn’t see anything threatening about her at all. Either way, they slowly nodded, and spoke again.

“My name is Chara.” Alright, that was good. They were talking, and nothing they’d said yet had made the woman act differently. Granted, it was still early in the conversation, but so far it was going well.

“It’s very nice to meet you Chara. Now, are you hurt?” Their teeth bit their lip again as they nodded. “Alright. Where?”

Where indeed. They didn’t feel like listing everything, that wasn’t necessary. Sure, they would be bruised up, but those weren’t important. The only major injuries were-

“My nose is. . . broken, I think. And my ankle is, uh, hurt. I’m not sure how bad, but I can’t walk.” Toriel nodded and stretched out a furry paw hand.

“May I see your ankle?” They weren’t too sure what she would do, but they did know that it would probably hurt. Toriel _seemed_ gentle and kind, but just bumping it against the ground had sent angry pain messages, so they shook their head. No, they didn’t want to let her see it. Toriel frowned, but her eyes didn’t carry the spark of anger that meant Chara should be worried.

“Don’t worry,” Asriel stated, offering his paw hand to them. “Mom won’t hurt you or anything, she’s just really good at healing.” They glanced at it for a moment, mentally weighing what to do, and then reached out and wrapped their hand around his. He seemed happy that they were accepting the comfort.

“It is alright, Chara. As my son says, I will not harm you; I only wish to help. Now, may I please see your ankle?” There, they could understand that. The tone was still motherly and patient, but usually when it got to this point, if they refused. . . well, she’d just get more and more frustrated, and then she’d just grab their leg and yank it forward and look at it anyway. That’s how moms handled things like splinters and cuts and hurt ankles.

And so they stretched out their leg, already preparing to wince as one paw went underneath the ankle to support it, and the other rested only lightly on top. There was a bit of a twinge, but it wasn’t as bad as expected.

Toriel’s hands began to glow and a feeling of warmth radiated from the injury. The pain dulled down, and then grew completely numb.

It. . . somehow didn’t surprise them that the goat woman was using magic and not just bandaging them up. That’s what people in fairy tales could do, right? Oh, now they were _sure_ they were having some weird dream, but it was so worth it.

And then the paws were removed, and when they glanced down at their ankle, it looked normal. Not red, just the pale shade their skin naturally was. When they gave it a gentle press against the ground, it just felt normal and ankle like.

They looked up to Toriel and couldn’t quite stop the smile that blossomed on their face, and  when the woman smiled back they couldn’t help but think it felt so. . . right and natural and like _this is how it should be._

“Now, may I try with your nose? This may hurt a little bit more, I wish to make sure it is properly aligned if it is broken, but it will only last for a few seconds.” The child hesitated, then nodded. After all, their ankle was okay now, and if it would be over that fast, they could handle it.

A paw moved up to their face, and lightly pressed against the side of the nose. This one hurt a lot more than their ankle, and they reflexively squeezed Asriel’s paw. He didn’t seem to mind, though.

“Hm. It is not broken, so we do not have to set it. This should take care of it.” The warmth spread through their face and the pain numbed until it felt like they hadn’t been hurt at all. Even the sting from the future bruises wasn’t as bad as it had been before. They unclasped their hand from Asriel’s, quietly muttering an apology when he shook it.

“There. Now, can you stand?” The child paused for a moment, then carefully picked themself up. This time they could support themself without falling, thankfully.

“Very good. We cannot leave you here alone, so come along with us, alright?” Asriel latched onto his mother’s hand and offered them another encouraging smile. They paused to glance back up at the hole, then nodded and hesitantly reached out to grab a small handful of Toriel’s dress. If the monster was offended they didn’t grab her free hand, she didn’t show it, and instead gave them a small pat on the head. They’d seen that one coming.

They still weren’t too sure about what was going on, or if they were even awake, but it seemed okay so far. These two monsters had both been nothing but kind so far, and as they followed along half-behind and half-beside Toriel, with Asriel happily chatting about how much they’d like his room, or how cool his dad was, they felt almost. . . comfortable.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Here we have a story about Chara.
> 
> I never really liked the idea that Chara was the ultimate evil in the story. Now, I'm not trying to say that they're completely innocent and did nothing wrong, that's not true. But I want to take a look at one story that might explain how they got to where they did, and that follows the theme of the game a bit better.


End file.
